Southwest reaches partial settlement with Boeing over projected 737 MAX damages

Southwest said Thursday it had reached a confidential compensation agreement with Boeing Co for a portion of a projected $830m hit to operating income in 2019 arising from the grounding of its 737 MAX aircraft. The airline, the world’s largest 737 MAX operator, said it would share with its employees proceeds of about $125m from Boeing. Southwest said it continues to discuss with Boeing further compensation related to the MAX grounding, adding that the details of the talks and the settlement were confidential. Boeing declined to make an immediate comment. Southwest, American Airlines and United are scheduling flights without use of the aircraft until early March 2020, nearly a year since the plane was grounded after crashes killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia. FAA chief Steve Dickson confirmed on Wednesday the agency will not unground the MAX before the end of 2019. Southwest CE Gary Kelly said the March date was based on FAA approval in December and would likely need to be pushed back again.<br/>